Look Out, Nest: 5 Smart Home Startups

Is every dream home a startup? Not yet, but Google's charge into the smart sensor market should spark more interest in this sector. Here are some names to watch.

Google's planned $3.2 billion buyout of Nest -- revealed this week -- has sparked additional interest in the already-hot sector of smart sensors for the home.

With that in mind, Light Reading has picked out five startups that are worth watching in this area. At the very least, Google's surprise buy has given the sector additional credibility and may provoke additional buyouts from rivals looking to keep up with the search giant. (See Google to Buy Nest for $3.2B.)

So here are our picks of the home bodies to watch:

yetu AG, a Berlin-based startup, was founded in 2010 by the former Chief Product and Innovation Officer from Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT), Christopher Schläffer, who serves as CEO. The company makes a "smart home platform" that connects various devices with a home gateway and allows developers to create applications for the home across smartphones, tablets, and PCs. The company completed an $8 million funding round late last year, according to CrunchBase.